Fans are Rage Quitting 'Game of Thrones' After That Brutal Scene in Episode 6

WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Season 5, Episode 6 of Game of Thrones.

The HBO series Game of Thrones has never shied away from brutal and violent subject matter, but it was a scene from the latest episode of the fifth season that has fans enraged, with many declaring that they will never watch the series again.

In Sunday's episode of Game of Thrones characters Sansa Stark and Ramsay Bolton were married, much to Sansa's disgust. Ramsay is not a character who has many redeeming qualities, and is probably one of the most twisted and demented characters in the entire series. However episode 6 "Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken" took this to the absolutely limit when, during their wedding night, Ramsay forced Sansa to undress before violently and brutally raping her in front of his slave Reek (otherwise known as Theon Greyjoy who grew up with Sansa as a sort of brother-figure in her life).

The rape scene deviated from the novels on which the series is based on, and their was so much public outcry that the series author, George R. R. Martin issued a response:

How many children did Scarlett O'Hara have? Three, in the novel. One, in the movie. None, in real life: she was a fictional character, she never existed. The show is the show, the books are the books; two different tellings of the same story.

There have been differences between the novels and the television show since the first episode of season one. And for just as long, I have been talking about the butterfly effect. Small changes lead to larger changes lead to huge changes. HBO is more than forty hours into the impossible and demanding task of adapting my lengthy (extremely) and complex (exceedingly) novels, with their layers of plots and subplots, their twists and contradictions and unreliable narrators, viewpoint shifts and ambiguities, and a cast of characters in the hundreds.

However despite Martin's response many fans have vowed that they will never again tune in to the series, with many taking to Twitter to publicly declare as much:

Ok, I'm done Game of Thrones.Water Garden, stupid.Gratuitous rape scene disgusting and unacceptable.It was a rocky ride that just ended.

Feminist culture website The Mary Sue even went as far as to declare that it would no longer publish promotional posts about Game of Thrones again due to the episode and it's triggering and unnecessary subject matter.

This past episode was not the first time Game of Thrones has encountered criticism for unnecessary rape scenes, with uproar in Season 4 over a scene involving Cersei and Jaime Lannister, as well as a Season 1 scene with Khal Drogo and the rape of his young bride Daenerys Targaryen.

Despite the controversy Game of Thrones will continue to air the remainder of Season 5 on HBO on Sunday nights.